The mountain city of Chongqing - an Internet celebrity city unwilling to become an Internet celebrity

As a girl who grew up in the northeastern plains, I was really tired of looking at the plains in sight, and wanted to experience the surprise of Yuyitou Village. I heard that Chongqing is a city that belongs to "adventurers" . After I was lucky enough to be selected as an unexpected Chongqing experience officer, I put down everything in my hands and started this adventure Fravel. Travel .

After getting off the plane, after many twists and turns, I finally found the building where the B&B is located. Before getting on the elevator, Ying, who was traveling with me, thoughtfully told me the specific location of the room. It was obviously the first time we met, but I felt "going home".

The B&B is larger than expected, with a small balcony and a folding window that looks like a sliding door. Because the floors are high, you can see the entire city.

With the unknown about this city, "Escape from Chongqing" officially started, and everything was just right.

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We made an appointment with our local friend Yu to meet at the Tongren Bureau subway station in Nan'an District. Fish was waiting for us at the door early. When he saw us, he greeted us warmly.

As soon as we got out of the subway station, both Ying and I were shocked - what was connected to the outside of the subway was not a road or a flat ground, but a uniquely constructed overpass .

The reason why Yu chose Sujiaba Overpass as his first stop is because its peculiar structure has become a typical representative of Chongqing architecture and has been the filming location of many movies.

Walking up the steps, are two large ring roads on the left and right sides, connecting pathways of different heights. In the middle is a giant pedestrian bridge. Reflected by the double-sided glass of the subway station opposite, the entire The overall view of the overpass adds to the dreamlike sense of alienation.

When we reached the top of the overpass and walked a little further, we saw Caiyuanba Yangtze River Bridge. In my impression, the Yangtze River is very long, but this bridge seems to be only a few hundred meters away, and you can see the other side at a glance. Ying and I agreed that the Yangtze River was nothing more than this.

The fish said, You will know after you take a walk.

Walking on the Yangtze River, the view is wider. On the left side of the bridge is an abandoned bus hub, with the words Chongqing Station faintly visible. Some buses were parked on the shore in a deserted and disorderly manner, covered with layers of dust.

Occasionally someone passes by a boat drifting on the river. On the right bank are several hills, densely interspersed with buildings of different heights. The sky is foggy, and a Ferris wheel is hidden among the tall buildings.

That was the playground where Yu used to play when he was a child, but now few people live in the houses in this area. Except for the elderly, they are tenants. If they are demolished and renovated in the name of dilapidated houses, they may become a new tourist area like Hongyadong.

Chongqing's architecture has a distinctive feature. The buildings are tall, dense and uneven , probably because the foundations are not stable.

Later I found out that it doesn’t exist in Chongqing. "layer" The concept of "there are external stairs or ramps everywhere" is that a residential building with more than 20 floors can be Set up three or four entrances at different heights and directions .

Chongqingis built on the mountains and near the water, and the roads naturally wind up along the mountains. But it is different from the rugged "mountain road" in my impression. Sometimes I don't feel like I am climbing a building at all. But once I use the Yangtze River as a reference, I find that I am already halfway up the mountain.

There is no clear boundary between buildings, traffic arteries and mountains. There are viaducts parallel to the top floors of high-rise buildings, and the Liziba Light Rail Station passing through the buildings. This also makes Chongqing, the 8D magical city, highly recognizable, and also laments the difficulty of building this city.

It didn’t look like a long bridge, but it took us nearly fifty minutes to actually get off the bridge. We verified with our steps that the Yangtze River is not only "long", but also " "Wide", and deeply understand the practical principle of "seeing is not believing".

After getting off the overpass, walk a little further ahead. Lianglukou Vegetable Market The doorway was small, and the floor was unpaved. The purple and orange lights intertwined, casting a disillusioned color on the fruit. The light seemed to pass through Deliberate precision design .

It's like I've traveled back in time. The old market in the 1980s , only selling simple daily necessities, and completely self-sufficient for the residents at the intersection.

But if it weren’t for fish, you would never have thought that such a small place could be unique.

Passing through the narrow vegetable market is the nearby residential area. It is completely different from the impression of residential buildings. There is no spacious courtyard or square, and there are only narrow passages and stairs connecting the buildings. There are several small stalls on both sides of the road: a tailor shop with sewing machines, a "head-shaving shop" with a mirror...

The "bǎng) stick (bér)" (probably pronounced like this?) on the street has the most Chongqing characteristics. The steep terrain of Chongqing made it inconvenient for individuals to carry heavy objects, which gave rise to the hard-working profession of selling labor force to make a living. The "Bangbang" guys were squatting on the roadside with a stick next to a sign, waiting boredly for their next customer.

I met a small chili making workshop on the street corner. The bright red chili peppers were spread out in a large pot, and an uncle was stirring them carefully, carefully "injecting soul" into the chili peppers. Chili base for Chongqing noodles.

If the dozens of ingredients used to make noodles are all carefully prepared, even outsiders will not be able to understand them. Chongqing delicacy that cannot be replicated .

Walking through the simple old houses of Chongqing, it feels like you are peeking into the secrets of old Chongqing for half a century.

The outside world has changed several times, but the time dimension here seems to have never changed .

We originally planned to eat hot pot at Lianglukou, but after hearing that we had too little sleep to catch a flight, Yu suggested that we should not eat hot pot when our physical condition is not good, as it will make us more tired, so we decided to go to Jiefangbei and Hongya Cave. Eat whatever you want.

Jiefangbei is the core CBD area of ​​the entire Yuzhong District. Young people gather here and have a sense of visibility like a first-tier city. Outside the city, a completely different new Chongqing is quietly growing. In addition to the smell of hot pot still floating in the streets and alleys, the atmosphere of the world here is much covered up by car exhaust. The label of "Internet celebrity" is even more prominent here. conspicuous.

The first meal in Chongqing was pea noodles and Bobo chicken . The pea noodles sold at home are all soup noodles, so when I got the noodles, I checked several times to make sure I ordered them correctly.

The white and waxy noodles are topped with pea yellow and minced meat. They look so light, but more than a dozen small ingredients are hidden at the bottom . Stir them evenly from the bottom up to give them the same color as fried noodles. The first bite is filled with the aroma of chili pepper.

Bobo Chicken is not a chicken recipe, but a food similar to "cold skewers". Take the food off the skewer, pour it with chili oil, mix it again and put it on a plate. Served with small noodles, it will be more fragrant.

Hongyadong was originally built on a hillside. Dilapidated and dangerous buildings In recent years, it has been invested and rebuilt by a company and equipped with gorgeous lights, becoming one of the representative attractions of Chongqing.

We originally wanted to go shopping inside, but our local friend Yu told us that most of the scenic spots are featureless food stalls that deceive tourists, and locals never go shopping there.

After successfully avoiding this thunderstorm, the three of us found an empty seat on the Qiansimen Bridge to watch from a distance. I lay on the bridge, staring intently at the brilliant lights coming from the cave, imagining whether I was in Chihiro's world , would a Yubaba or Yubaba appear in the next second? Where is the faceless man ?

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The next day's itinerary starts from the most popular trail in Chongqing - Mountain City Trail .

The mountain city trail is mainly divided into two sections: the north and south sections and the middle section, and Yu mainly led us to the undeveloped middle section .

The entrance to the trail is a completely inconspicuous step. After walking up, it feels like a completely different world. There are steep steps one after another, and the surrounding residential buildings are scattered on the path. "Bangbang" watched the heavy objects walking on the trail with difficulty. For the locals, such a trail is not a poetic thing at all.

The trails in the north and south sections are completely different. All the moss-covered walls have been repainted with novel graffiti. Old residences have also been transformed into new cultural and creative districts. It’s not that I don’t like all kinds of cultural creations, it’s just that it’s a pity that residential houses with local characteristics have been transformed into the same tourist attractions.

The fish kept sighing: "Oh my god, it was not like this last time I came here."

The city's constant renovation and reconstruction is gradually removing its original vitality . But if a city wants to develop and continue, it will inevitably cater to tourists and the market, and has to abandon some things that are not suitable for this era.

Looking from the footpath to the side of the Yangtze River, the new cross-river bridge is still under construction, and the new buildings are flush with the old commodity city. Double rhythms run in parallel.

At noon, Yu took us to an authentic Sichuan restaurant. I simply ordered a spicy platter - including hot and sour noodles, noodles, hand noodles and tofu curds; a plate of twice-cooked pork; and a stack of fried dumplings. I thought the red oil I dipped my hands in was particularly fragrant, so I wanted to know where to buy this kind of chili oil.

This kind of chili oil is made at home and is generally not sold, Yu told us. The chili oil we eat that day is brewed on the same day, and only fresh chili is flavorful. If you want to take it home, the taste will change the next day. Compared with the chili oil that can be squeezed at home for half a year, Chongqing people who are addicted to spicy food are really very particular about chili .

When Chongqing was first developed, there was no manpower and material resources to build a cross-river bridge, and there was no money and technology to build a light rail, so we had to build a simple Yangtze River Cableway using cableways and boxes, which became the connection between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait at that time. An important means of transportation.

Looking along the direction of the cableway, you can see three old buildings closely connected in a stepped shape - Baixiang Street . If you pay attention to the bridge, you can see rows of well-designed buildings. An exquisite yellow building, this is the most complete historical building complex in Chongqing - Huguang Guild Hall. The magnificent Sheraton Hotel on the other side faces this far away.

The Yangtze River Cableway crosses the Yangtze River and runs through the north and south. It is historical and modern, just like a traversing prop in a movie.

I always thought that the Yangtze River Cableway was no different from the cableway in ordinary scenic spots. A few people sat quietly in the box, admiring the scenery outside the window, waiting for it to slide safely to the other side. But this is obviously the misunderstanding of Chongqing by outsiders - the box on the Yangtze River Cableway is like a bus without wheels. Probably to save space, there are no seats in the box. Thirty or forty people are squeezed into a small space, which is boring. Out of breath.

Yu joked that her friend went to experience the Yangtze River Cableway for himself, and it felt like "a pig locked in an iron fence, being transported by a bumpy truck to the slaughterhouse."

Baixiang Street is one of the remaining typical old Chongqing residential buildings. The 24-story building has no elevator and is connected by entrances from different heights. In addition, the original atmosphere of life here has not been destroyed, which often attracts film crews to shoot here.

The residents here seem to have long been accustomed to the presence of tourists. They glanced at our camera with disdain, smoked cigarettes, and then continued to play mahjong happily with their neighbors. It seemed that nothing was better than winning the game in front of them More important.

After each round, the players have to review the game carefully with the onlookers nearby. I can only vaguely distinguish a few words in the authentic Chongqing dialect. Just listening to these happy voices makes me feel heartily .

Children were laughing and jumping in the corridor, which was probably a good place to play hide-and-seek. The old ladies sat in a row by the window, listening to someone talking about the girl and daughter-in-law's daily affairs.

The dilapidated newspaper boxes, the lingering smoke, the damp and yellowed walls, the tables and chairs arranged randomly, and the damp clothes that never dry, are the most distinctive elements of this world .

This is also the real Chongqingunshakable temperament, the city root without any falsehood, and the rough but contented city atmosphere .

Come out of Baixiang Street and walk down a few unknown alleys until you reach the Chaotianmen Pier area.

The entire city of Chongqing is centered on the Yuzhong Peninsula - a small peninsula formed by the intersection of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River. Chaotianmen, located at the tip of the island, is an important transportation hub in Yuzhong District.

The special geographical location determines the importance of Chaotianmen area in Chongqing. The wholesale mall and the newly built Raffles City Plaza stand side by side. The Jialing River flows from west to east into the Yangtze River, and life continues.

In the evening, Yu recommended us the most local hot pot - Yefu Hotpot. It is said that the boss had a nickname when he was young: "Chamber Pot", which in Chongqing dialect means "Ye Fu".

The shop is not big, hidden in an inconspicuous corner, but there are many people, and there are no tourists gathering. They are all authentic Chongqing people, eating happily.

This is the first time I didn’t order the Yuanyang Hot Pot, and I challenged the spicy Chongqing taste . Chili peppers and peppercorns are densely spread on the hot pot, and unlike the traditional "spicy soup base", Chongqing hot pot does not seem to have a thick "soup", only a pot full of red oil.

Yu helped us order coriander beef balls, beef, tripe, vegetables, tofu skin, and enoki mushrooms. Later, I gradually realized that something was missing. It turned out that Chongqing hot pot does not boil mutton.

The authentic Chongqing hotpot that has not been improved has no self-service condiments area, and each person is directly served a small can of oil. As northerners who are used to eating sesame paste, Ying and I were very unfamiliar with pouring the oil from the small can into a dish, adding a little garlic and MSG on the table, and taking a bite, emmm... it was still Strong sesame oil smell .

The hot pot is not as spicy as it looks, but it has a very spicy taste. Halfway through the meal, the numbness disappeared, and suddenly a burst of saltiness hit my taste buds, and I couldn't taste anything else.

The fish explained, this is not salty, but numb. You have been numb to the point where you have no sense of taste at all, only salty is left. Maybe...this is the highest level of spicy ?

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Fortunately, I met the true face of Chongqing in this way, its simple lifestyle, its uprightness, hotness, and chivalry, its traces of history and strong will , it still exists Ruyi Jianghu .

The recent hit "You Are Young" has once again increased its popularity as an Internet celebrity. Countless young people come here every day to check in and send short videos.

And a few decades later, after old Chongqing has truly aged, what style will Chongqing show to the world?